Transformation
by KellyDeaux
Summary: Expansive AU story featuring many beloved characters from The 100. Can Clarke and everyone she knows and loves survive the constant twists and turns life throws their way? I foresee this story having a lot of chapters, and will do my best to have frequent updates :)
1. Awoken

**This is the first fan fiction story I've written, so I apologize if the writing is a little rough, I hope future chapters and/or stories will smooth out the jagged edges.**

 **I envision this project being very expansive with many chapters, so if you have any plot suggestions, recommendations for future chapters, or just want to chat in general you're more than welcome to message me, I'll always respond!**

 **Enjoy!**

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 **Chapter 1: Awoken**

Clarke stared frustrated daggers down at her coursework, perplexed by the equations on the page and their inability to solve themselves. The pre-med student had thrown herself into her studies the moment she walked in the door. However, her mind had finally reached its boiling point, unable to continue with the original prospect of pulling an all nighter to study.

She was sitting at the dining room table in the small, but cozy, three bedroom apartment she shared with her two best friends, Raven and Octavia. At the other side of said dining room table, Raven was focused on her cell phone, clearly doing some procrastinating of her own.

Mere moments later, clipped snickers and stifled laughs from Raven caused Clarke to drop her pen, huff an irked sigh, and steal a glance up at her best friend, "Raven…"

"Oh, don't give me that huffy 'Raven' thing, princess," Raven retorted, a playful smirk lingering on her face. Spotting it, Clarke also grinned and felt even more withdrawn from doing her studies. She remembered why she preferred studying in the library, her friends were highly distracting.

Raven leaned toward Clarke, wiggling her eyebrows mock-flirtingly, "you know it's Saturday, Clarke, right? Come on, let's go out! Maybe to that new club? What do you say––you, me, Octavia, and Bellamy, if he's free?" It was like her best friend had devised and fulfilled a plan on stealing her away from her coursework in favor of partying.

"Did I hear someone say club?" Octavia said, poking her head out of her room, almost as if on queue to further dissolve Clarke's already shaky determination to study.

The blonde was ready to politely decline, state that she had a butt load of homework to catch up on, but she realized her mind was already in her closet, rifling around and deciding what to wear. "Alright," she murmured reluctantly, "but only for a couple of hours!"

The three dispersed into their respective rooms to get changed and then called Bellamy, who happily agreed to meet them at the newish club, Wanheda. Before hanging up, he shyly mentioned he would be bringing his new girlfriend, Echo.

* * *

By the time Clarke, Raven, and Octavia had gotten dressed, packed themselves in Octavia's car, and to the club, Bellamy and Echo had already arrived. He lived a bit closer than they did, but also didn't have to spend twenty minutes helping Raven choose the perfect top to wear, either.

The three ladies entered the club and immediately began scanning the crowd of faces for their fellow friend. On the leftmost side of the club was an expansive black polished bar table with bar stools bolted down around it. At the far back there was a moderately sized stage that looked out onto a mostly open dance floor, besides the occasional lounge chair that was purposefully placed just in front of the mock-bar.

A band that Clarke didn't recognize was on stage performing. She had to admit, though, the beat wasn't too bad, and judging by the sea of people dancing themselves silly, others agreed.

Not too long after, Raven gave Clarke and Octavia a shove with her arm and pointed out towards the bar where Bellamy was, already mid-conversation with someone, presumably his new girlfriend, Echo. Octavia set off towards her brother, Clarke and Raven in toe behind her.

"Bell!" Octavia cheered over the roar of the music when she reached her brother, wrapping her arm around his side for a half-hug in which he reciprocated.

"Hey sis," he replied with a wide smile and waved a quick greeting at Raven and Clarke before diving right into introductions. "O, this is the person I've been telling you about, Echo. Echo, this is my sister, Octavia, and her best friends Raven and Clarke," he said smoothly, his voice easily giving away just how much he liked and wanted to impress Echo.

"Pleasure to meet you," Echo replied genuinely, her eyes shifting from Octavia to Raven to Clarke as if to extend the greeting to each one individually. "I'm waiting on my friends, too. Bellamy suggested I invite them so we can all meet up," she added afterward before turning her attention fully back on Bellamy.

"Awesome," Octavia piped optimistically, while Raven and Clarke nodded in firm agreement to Octavia's statement. Bellamy, on the other hand, simply stood with a goofy, lopsided smile on his face that Clarke had to force herself not to laugh at. It was definitely going to be an interesting night if that persisted.

* * *

About ten minutes later…

"Hey" Echo boomed, waving her arms to get the attention of her friends when she seen them walk through the door. Two women and a man approached, each wrapping Echo up in a hug before the woman was able to make introductions.

Unfortunately the lighting was dim, which made it difficult for Clarke to make out Echo's friends as they approached and when they gave her a hug. It wasn't until the hugging and basic introductions were over, and the three newcomers huddled in closer to the group, that Clarke was able to get a better look at each of them.

Lincoln was tall, dark, incredibly toned, and his head was clean shaven. Anya was a bit of a contrast, a petite framed woman with long, rustic-blonde hair, and a bored expression that Clarke thought might just be the way her face looked normally. Lexa had dreamy green eyes and brunette hair that was pinned back, half of it styled in lazy dreadlocks, the other half lose and flowing. All three stood up rigidly straight with neutral or friendly expressions on their faces. Somehow it reminded Clarke of the warriors she read about in history class.

Clarke couldn't take her eyes off Lexa, losing herself in the woman's mesmerizing green eyes and strong, defined jawline. It wasn't until those green eyes locked on her blue ones that she realized she was staring. Utterly embarrassed, Clarke looked away, a slight blush creeping up on her neck, which made her thankful for the poor, colored lighting.

"I'm going to the bar," Raven announced over the music and waded her way through the sea of dancers towards the bar. The blonde contemplated making a break from the group as well. The idea of lounging in a barstool getting wasted with Raven didn't seem all that bad, but eventually she decided against it and instead remained where she was.

Clarke mostly kept quiet, taking in the buzz of music around her, intoxicated people chattering and laughing and dancing. Frequently she could hear the faint echo over the noisy music of a giggle escaping Octavia as she and Lincoln mutually flirted. Clarke's brows furrowed and she frowned a bit when her mind wandered to the thought of all the homework she still had left to do.

"Is something wrong?" A voice asked, drawing her away from her thoughts. Clarke looked up and met the green eyes that had been peering at her. It took her a moment to realize the question was directed at her.

"Oh–uh, no, sorry. Just thinking," she stammered like an idiot, forcing a smile to her face in hopes it would relieve some of her idiocy.

"Care to share?" Lexa asked playfully.

"Nothing exciting, really," the blonde evaded, her answer being far from interesting. Instead, she chose to change the subject, "how long have you known Anya, Lincoln, and Echo?"

Lexa's smile intensified as Clarke dodged the question, but the brunette didn't press the topic. "I've known Anya for as long as I can remember. We met Lincoln and Echo in high school, been friends ever since," she answered and a proud smile lit her face as she spoke about her friends. "How about you and your friends?"

"Raven literally collided into me in the hallway the first day of grade school. Octavia was assigned to sit at the same table as Raven and I that very same day. We've been inseparable ever since. Bellamy is Octavia's older brother, so met him not long after," Clarke said, a joyous smile on her face thinking about her friends and the memories they've made. She tried, and ultimately failed, to restrain herself from chuckling at the memory of little Raven's mortified face the first day they met.

Bleary eyed from laughing to the point of tears, it took Clarke a couple of moments to recollect her composure and push the hilarious thoughts to the back of her head. She rubbed her tired eyes and glanced back up to see Lexa still staring at her, a smile plastered on the brunette's face as if she were experiencing the memory, too. Seeing Lexa smile made Clarke weak-kneed and her heart fluttered faster.

Silence grew between them, enough for the green eyed brunette to clear her throat and toss a random question in the air, "so what is it you do, Clarke?"

"I'm pre-med and work part-time at Nyko's Books," Clarke answered, "what about you?"

"Nyko Books is only a couple blocks from where I work, at Trikru Records," Lexa responded. "You should stop by sometime," she added with a sly smile that Clarke noticed accented the brunette's sharp, sexy jawline.

She didn't understand why, but the knowledge that she and Clarke were in relatively close proximity work wise made Lexa feel overjoyed.

"Hey, we're heading out, catch up with you later––and don't wait up for me!" Octavia called out in a throaty voice as both her and Lincoln dashed hurriedly toward the exit before Clarke could even answer. Sadly, Clarke didn't even have a chance to yell back a reminder to her horny friend that she was Raven and Clarke's ride.

"Crap," the blonde grumbled, rubbing her sleep deprived eyes once more. "I should probably go get Raven. Knowing her she's probably already drunk, and Octavia was our ride…" Clarke said, trailing off in the thought, her attention focused towards the bar, hopeful that enough people would part temporarily for her to see what kind of sorry, drunken state her best friend was in. No such luck.

Shifting her focus back on the alluring woman in front of her, Clarke noticed Lexa still hadn't taken her attention off her. When their eyes met, a familiar warmth brewed beneath her skin and her heart skipped a beat again. She tried to play off the skitter in her chest as something attributed to the music, even though she knew that had absolutely nothing to do with it––she wasn't even paying attention to the music, anymore.

"I can drive you and your drunken friend home," Lexa offered, ignoring the way her heart raced when Clarke reluctantly agreed with a small, genuine smile.

Clarke and Lexa agreed to meet in the parking lot after the blonde found her best friend, who was just as drunk as she anticipated.

"C'mon, Rae, we're going home," Clarke said as she tried to usher her drunken friend away from her shot glass. In response, Raven swatted a hand at her and kept her attention solely on the bartender.

Sighing, Clarke wheeled the barstool so it faced her and shot her friend a I'm-not-playing-around look. This garnered a guttural sound from Raven, which sounded a lot like someone who was barely still standing in a boxing match, and attempted to stand and literally tripped over her own feet and into Clarke.

"Geez, when did you get so heavy?" Clarke complained rhetorically as Raven shifted her weight heavily against the blonde. The two made their way, albeit slowly, outside and into the parking lot.

Lexa was waiting outside, as promised, and had even pulled her car up as close to the door as possible, hopeful it would help getting Clarke's friend in the backseat.

"Raven, that's–hey, stop that!" Clarke muttered grumpily, ducking her head down as Raven kept trying to play with her hair as revenge for taking her away from the comfort of the barstool. "We'll come back next weekend, okay? I promise." Raven nodded in agreement, but still fiddled with Clarke's hair just to pester her. Clarke frowned, trying to conjure up a plan as to how to get the damn car door open, knowing it would be an impossible feat with all of Raven's weight leaning so heavily into her.

"Here, let me help," said a voice from her left. Clarke craned her neck and saw Lexa reaching out to relieve some of the extra weight slouched uncomfortably against her. An overhead light cast down on the green eyed brunette, allowing the blonde a better look at her. She couldn't help but notice Lexa's sharp jawline, which seemed sexier, fiercer with her stoic expression, and how defined her upper muscles were as she took on some of Raven's weight.

"Heeeyyy, you're uh… Ah, shit, what was your name again?" Raven asked, her voice stammering over the words from her drunken state.

"Lexa," both Clarke and Lexa said in unison, both pausing to glance at one another, blue eyes meeting green with a soft smile. As they shifted back on the task at hand, getting Raven in the car, Clarke sidestepped and let the extra Raven-weight she was holding shift lower to help give them a better angle to work with.

With Lexa's help, the two practically heaved Raven into the backseat, their fingers brushing against one another in the process. Even though it was brief, it was almost sensual, had it not been purely by accident. That didn't stop Clarke's breath from itching in her throat. Ballsy enough, the blonde glimpsed at Lexa with her peripheral vision and swore she seen the green eyed woman smile. Her heart started palpitating at the wild ideas that flooded through mind like a windstorm.

Lexa noticed Clarke was frozen in place, staring idly into nothingness. Upon closer inspection she noticed the blonde's breathing was visibly quickened, which worried her. Wide eyed, she easily closed the distance between them and faced the blonde.

Calculatedly, Lexa rested her hands atop the blonde's shoulders. "Breathe Clarke," she said, but it sounded more like she was begging rather than trying to reassure Clarke out of whatever panic attack she was in.

"I–I'm okay," Clarke eventually said, her voice as wobbly as her legs felt. She desperately tried to ignore the fact that Lexa was touching her or how the thrilling electric sensation pulsing right below where the brunette's hands were made her feel.

Clarke backed out of Lexa's at-a-distance embrace and walked around the back of the car to the passenger side.

Raven was sleeping soundly in the backseat by the time Clarke and Lexa got buckled in, the drunken woman's obnoxious snores were clear as day in the front seat.

"Sorry about Raven, she takes drinking a bit too seriously," Clarke joked, a playful smile on her face before sobering up slightly and adding, "thank you again for this, Lexa." While she didn't want to admit it, and certainly wouldn't to her two best friends, Clarke enjoyed meeting Echo and her friends. Especially Lexa.

"Of course, Clarke," the brunette replied. An internal shiver cascaded down Lexa's back as she took notice just how much she truly enjoyed it when the blonde said her name.

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 **Please leave a review, let me know what you think!**


	2. Nearly Comatose

**Hey all, here's the second chapter to the story. I ended up just picking right up from the previous chapter ended instead of fast-forwarding like I initially planned. Either way, hope you enjoy**

 **Also, please let me know what you thought. Your feedback is crucial to me as a writer and definitely speeds up the writing process! :)**

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Chapter 2: Nearly Comatose

Utterly exhausted, a soft sigh escaped Clarke's mouth as she leaned her head back against her seat.. Lexa was kindly driving her and Raven, who snored soundly from the backseat, home. Between the familiar and reassuring sound of her best friend's snoring and the quiet hum of the car's tires on the concrete, the blonde struggled to stay awake. The lines between reality and a serious exaggeration of reality blurred when the car's seat started to feel like clouds instead of leather.

"Are you okay?" Lexa hesitantly inquired in a quiet voice. She had respectfully given Clarke a bit of time to calm herself out of whatever caused her panic attack, but the brunette with forest green eyes couldn't help but worry about her. It was too random for her not to be.

"Just tired," Clarke replied groggily, oblivious to the fact that Lexa was referring to the mini-panic attack, not the blonde's state of lackluster communication.

"Nap, then. According to the GPS, we're still roughly fifteen minutes from your home. I'll wake you then," the brunette suggested. She stole a quick glance at the blonde alongside her, who was already on the verge of dozing off. The woman was slouched uncomfortably against the seat, her face relaxed instead of the constant state of worry that Lexa swore she could see in the furrow of the blonde's brows or tensing of her shoulders.

The car ride was silent for several minutes besides the light wheezing from Raven in the backseat. Occasionally Lexa would risk a glimpse at the blonde she had met not more than a couple hours ago, who now lightly slept in the seat beside her. There was something about Clarke that intrigued Lexa, something she was unable to pinpoint, but she silently vowed to make an effort in getting to know her. Real friendships, not the kind that borderlines on acquaintances who make small talk and exchange general pleasantries,were somewhat rare for Lexa, who usually kept a wary or guarded persona when talking to people.

Clarke grunted, struggling with her own dream demons. Frequently when the blonde tried to relax herself into a peaceful sleep, her mind would eventually drift back to the worst day of her life: the accident. The moment she lost her father and Finn.

"No… no…" Clarke sobbed gently, still plagued by bad dreams behind her eyelids. Images of Finn and Clarke in the backseat smiling and singing along to the music on the radio, her father peeking at the two in the rearview mirror, overjoyed at the happiness on Clarke's face. Then it shifted to when the song changed, to when Clarke grinned happily like she never wanted the day to end and asked her father to the turn the sound up on the radio. To the very moment that a long pickup truck going the other direction swerved to avoid an animal in the road and flipped right into the car she, Finn, and her father were in.

Lexa looked over at the blonde as she whimpered those two words. Her voice was ragged and pleading, like she was bartering her soul to get something back she had lost, and it tugged at the brunette's heart. It made her want to wrap Clarke up in her arms and shield her from whatever beleaguered her. Knowing in that moment that was what she wanted, something so foreign and random with a mostly-complete stranger made her chew her bottom lip worriedly.

She debated whether she should try to wake the woman or leave her be, knowing that if she were in the presence of someone she didn't know all that well while having a nightmare, she would be mortified. In the end consideration won out.

Mere moments later, Clarke jerked up, her seat belt biting into her chest. Her heart was hammering out of her chest, her eyes glossy with tears that she tried her damndest to hold back. On autopilot, she cupped her hands to her face, did her best to slowly forced the ill thoughts from her mind, and work on regulating her breathing.

"Nightmare?" The blonde nearly jumped, startled by the soft spoken question from the woman driving next to her, having forgotten the unique situation she was in with Lexa. Clarke simply nodded in reply, still choking back the tears that were threatening to fall.

The rest of the way to their destination, neither she nor Lexa spoke, and Raven remained unmoving in her catatonic state of sleep.

"Damn heavy sleeper," Clarke grumbled as she fruitlessly to wake Raven when they reached the apartment. Lexa felt herself smirk at the grumpy comment. After a whole lot of effort, the two managed to get the comatose woman in a sitting position.

"One sec, let me get the door," Clarke announced before dashing to the front door. In her fatigued state, it took the blonde a little longer than usual to find the right key for the door, which made her mutter a series of curses.

"Woah there sailor," Lexa quipped playfully.

"Ayeee," Clarke added humorously as she finally found and inserted the right key. She turned to head back to Lexa's car and help her get Raven, but the blonde was astonished to see the brunette had already gotten her out of the car and leaning against her. The dim lighting highlighted the brunette's forest green eyes and empathized her well-defined jawline.

The blonde audibly gulped before she mentally chastised herself for even considering going over to Lexa and running her hands over her body. Using her brain instead of her impulse, Clarke got on the other side of Raven, helping lift the dead weight up.

"Man, you'd think she would have woken up," Lexa stated playfully as they worked on getting Raven inside the apartment. Clarke simply grunted in agreement, a smirk on her face.

When they, eventually, got Raven inside the house, Clarke steered them toward the couch, not willing to put up with getting her best friend through _another_ door. Considering the amount of times they shoved her and nearly bumped her head against the door, it was probably better she sleep off her drunkenness on the couch. The moment Raven's head hit the couch, Clarke drooped into the free spot alongside her, grateful for the daunting task to be over with.

"Thank you again, Lexa. I'm not sure how I would have gotten her home," Clarke said appreciatively to the brunette, a genuine smile on her face. "Do you want a soda or something? You know, as a thanks."

"As much as I'd like to, I should probably head home. Have to open the store tomorrow, and my boss would probably kill me if I looked like I was peeled fresh off the sidewalk," a snicker played up the side of the brunette's face, a glint in her eye.

"Oh, alright," Clarke answered, deflated. She knew, deep down, it was probably better for Lexa to just leave, as she herself had a busy day ahead of her, too. For some strange reason, though, she wanted to denounce logic on the desire to get to know the brunette more. Probably because Lexa had come to her rescue or the fact that she constantly engaged Clarke in conversation when everyone else ignored her.

It wasn't because she wanted to ogle the woman's striking green eyes and ravishing body, and certainly not because she wanted t–

Okay, so maybe that had a little to do with it. Just a little.

"How about coffee tomorrow, instead?" Lexa asked, mustering up as much courage as she could and tried to ignore the mass of knots that formed in her stomach at the thought of seeing Clarke again. What the hell was happening to her?

"Sure!" Clarke responded more enthusiastically than she meant and felt her face heat up in a blush as a result.

Lexa wanted to exchange numbers, but her mouth dried up and brain mushed when she seen the blonde blush a little after she responded to her proposal. She quickly put up a wall between herself and the fluttery feeling in her stomach. Fishing in her pocket, Lexa withdrew her phone and handed it out to Clarke, "put your number in, I'll text you. Then we have each other's numbers to make plans."

The blonde took the device, thumbed her number into Lexa's phone, and handed it back with a smile, "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"I look forward to it. Good night, Clarke."

"Good night, Lexa."


	3. In Broad Daylight

**Hi again everyone, here's the next chapter in this story. This one is quite a bit longer, but there was a lot of things I wanted to make sure got added. Either way, I really hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you thought! Your feedback and comments mean alot to me as a writer and every bit of them is very motivating! :)  
**

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 **Chapter 3: In Broad Daylight**

By the time Lexa got herself home, she was dead tired, but couldn't shake the smile from her face when thinking of the events that transpired that evening. Most of all, she couldn't get a certain beautiful blonde with ocean blue eyes off her mind. They had just met, but Lexa felt an unusual connection to the woman. It almost like they knew one another in another lifetime or something. Hell, perhaps they did.

Lexa didn't bother getting changed into nighttime attire, knowing she had to have her lazy ass up and at work in less than six-and-some-change hours. Instead, she lazily kicked off her shoes and made way towards her bed. She ended up dozing off the second her head hit the pillow, right atop the covers.

* * *

After Lexa left, Clarke struggled to take her best friend's shoes off and attempt to roll her lazy ass into a more comfortable position. Raven would definitely pay dearly in the morning for choosing to drink so much, but she didn't deserve back and neck cramps from being sprawled out on the couch awkwardly as she slept.

Once finished covering her snoring friend up, Clarke headed towards her own room, a goofy grin on her face as she thought about the comfort of her bed. She stumbled tiredly towards her bed, working off her shoes and out of her clothes. Her eyes were watery, another unpleasant reminder of just how badly she needed sleep, as she lazily slipped into the first pair of shorts and t-shirt her hands came into contact with. Barely spotting the books scattered on her bed, Clarke stacked them up on top of one another and set them down on the floor before snugging herself underneath the covers. Her bed never felt better.

* * *

 _Beeeeeep, beeeeep._

 _Ugh, just a couple more minutes_ , Lexa thought to herself as she pulled her pillow over her head to try and ignore the chipper sound from her phone's alarm. She wasn't close enough to the device to hit the snooze button, so it beeped on. Lexa let out a cantankerous sound as she strenuously rolled out of bed to go find her phone. It was on the dresser where she left it last night.

Stifling a yawn, the brunette headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower and brush her teeth. Afterward, she continued her normal routine of readying herself by finding the Trikru Records tee shirt and nameplate pin every employee was required to wear, followed by picking out a faded black pair of skinny jeans to put on. She finished up by brushing her hair and made a braid down the center, leaving the rest to hang loosely.

"Next, coffee," Lexa told herself, her voice still sounding sleepy. The thought of coffee made her instantly remember the plans she made with the blonde she met last night, Clarke. Brewing a K-cup of coffee, the brunette smiled, both from the coffee's aroma and her lingering thoughts of the blonde. Like always, she added some cream to her coffee to take the extra bitterness out and help cool it a little bit, before happily taking a sip.

She left for work, her body on autopilot while she nursed down her coffee. It was going to be a good day.

* * *

"CLARKE, RAVEN, I'M HOME," Octavia boomed as she shut the front door. She doubted either of her best friends would be awake, so she made it her duty to get them up and out the door.

"Ugh… Fuck off," Raven grouchily said from the couch, her hands on her temples. Her head was pounding.

"Only in your dreams, Rae," Octavia sneered back before dropping down next to her friend for a quick hug.

Raven shoved Octavia in the side, her brain still feeling like mashed potatoes. "Christ, you got laid last night, didn't you?" She opened an eye to glance at Octavia, who still sat beside her, and groaned as the light from the nearby window seared into eyes.

"You've totally got your I-just-got-laid smile on," Raven guessed, the corner of her mouth hung up in a grin. She peaked once more at Octavia, shielding her eyes from the sunlight, and seen her friend look away with a blush on her face, confirming that she did indeed get lucky last night. Raven couldn't help but grin even more and push her shoulder into her friends, "don't leave me hanging, here. You gotta tell me everything after I've found an aspirin."

Clarke awoke fifteen minutes later from the laughing in the living room. Protesting the idea of getting up, the blonde threw her pillow towards the door, secretly hoping it would shut it. Sadly, she missed the door by a long shot.

Octavia and Raven exchanged sly grins when they heard Clarke's pillow hit the stack of books on the floor. Raven felt thankful that the aspirin she took was already starting to curb the raging headache she had, but she couldn't help but still feel like her face had melted off in the middle of the night.

Together, Raven and Octavia stormed into Clarke's room and plopped nosily down on the blonde's bed. "Clarke, sleepy head, get up!" They shouted down at her in unison, and then burst out laughing.

"Oh my God, why do I live with you people?" Clarke muttered into her mattress as her two best friends continued to guffaw beside her.

"Because you love us, silly. Here, let me show you another reason why," Octavia said before launching down again on the bed to tickle Clarke. Raven joined in shortly thereafter. They kept her pinned to the bed, tickling her relentlessly until the blonde squealed an apology to them.

"We always win," Raven quipped with defiance to Octavia. Both of them laughed for a couple minutes at Clarke's dispense while the blonde spent that time trying to catch her breath. "Seriously, princess, you should get up. I know you don't have a shift at Nyko's today, but you're going to want to get your studying done now because Octavia and I are taking you out again tonight." Raven leaned forward and hugged Clarke, who began to protest to the idea of going out. Looking at Clarke square in the eye she added, "and we're not taking for an answer!"

Stupidly, Clarke tried to object once more, causing a second round of tickling to occur. Eventually the blonde resigned herself to the fact that they had won after being tickled into submission twice. Rolling her eyes, she kicked her best friends out of her room in favor of getting a shower and dressed.

After a much needed, soothing shower, Clarke went back to her room and looked in her closet for what to wear. It took her much longer than normal, feeling more indecisive than usual, to decide upon a black, fitted t-shirt that hugged the curves of her body in all the right ways and a light khaki-colored skirt that complimented her wavy blonde hair.

Clarke habitually checked her cell phone to see if she had gotten any messages. None. However, she did spot the text message she got from Lexa last night after she left, ensuring both of them had each other's numbers. Anticipation swelled in the blonde's throat at the idea of seeing the brunette whose dazzling green eyes left her befuddled and weak-kneed.

She internally debated whether or not she should message Lexa, uncertain if it was too early. Then she remembered the reason the brunette left–because she had the opening shift at the store she worked at. A quick glance at the time, 8:18am, Clarke decided to be bold and just go for it.

 **[8:18am] Clarke:** Good morning, Lexa :)

Lexa always appreciated the quietness that came with the early shifts at the music shop, since no one in their right mind would shop for music at 8am. The silence was shattered by a ding of her phone altering her she had a text message. She expected it to be from Anya, since majority of her text messages were from Anya, but was joyously surprised to see Clarke's name in lieu of Anya's.

She wrote out and deleted several messages, nervous and unsure how exactly she should ask when the blonde wanted that coffee. If she still wanted that coffee. Instead, she settled on just letting the conversation go where it would.

 **[8:21am] Lexa:** Good morning, Clarke. How did you sleep?

 **[8:24am] Clarke:** Really good, guess dragging Raven's drunk inside exhausted me. How about you?

 **[8:28am] Lexa:** Your friend was surprisingly heavy! I also slept well, thank you for asking. Are you still up for that coffee today, by the way?

Lexa bit back a wave of nerves as she stared at her phone, awaiting Clarke's answer. She shot prayers up that the blonde wouldn't back out on their proposed coffee because she really wanted to see the woman's gorgeous blue eyes again.

Clarke's heart jackhammered in her chest at Lexa's last message. She couldn't contain the shit-eating grin that lit up her eyes as she danced around the kitchen. Realizing what she doing, that she was so joyful over just having a cup of _coffee_ with someone, she cleared her throat and settled back down in the stool before typing a reply.

 **[8:31am] Clarke:** Definitely. When are you free?

Lexa grinned gleefully at her phone, completely oblivious to Indra, her boss, having walked into the store. "If only you were this pleasant to the customers," she criticized, a hint of playfulness in her voice. Startled by the sound, Lexa gasped and stiffened when she realized that it was her _boss_ who spoke to her, not a customer.

Holding back a wince, Lexa straightened herself in her seat and stared at her boss, Indra Trikru, as if she were about to salute her. "I'm sorry, ma'am," she is all she managed to say, a mortified expression on her face.

Indra chuckled, a sound that could be closest described to as knifelike. "No one is here in the morning. You're fine." At that, Lexa released a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Indra Trikru was cunning and a hard-ass majority of the time, completely and utterly ruthless in ensuring she got the very best productivity possible out of her employees, but she did have her moments. She cared for every one of her employees, even if she'd never admit it aloud, and was happy to interact with them on a weekly basis.

Anya had applied and been accepted to work at Indra's store, Trikru Records, the day she was legally eligible to work. Two years later, when Lexa was old enough to be hired, Anya convinced Indra to also hire Lexa. Both have worked loyally at Trikru Records ever since. The pay wasn't the greatest, but considering it was a tightly knit family of a company, it was worth it.

"Go unpack the boxes in the back. We got a new shipment last night," Indra ordered, taking Lexa's place at the front desk. She knew the brunette would be preoccupied by desire to look at her device, and therefore better served stocking shelves.

Lexa nodded and scurried off to the backroom where the boxes were. They were wrapped in plastic to keep them safe against the rainy weather spring often yields. The brunette paused, pulled out her phone, and quickly typed a reply back to Clarke, feeling bad for having to wait so long to do so.

 **[8:43am] Lexa:** My shift ends at 2. Would that work for you?

Clarke practically jumped when she heard her phone alert her to having a new message. While waiting for Lexa's reply, the blonde had immersed herself in her homework. She knew she needed to get some of it done if she was going to have coffee with Lexa and be dragged out to a party later on by her best friends.

 **[8:45am] Clarke:** Works for me. How about the coffee shop down the street?

 **[8:48am] Lexa:** Sounds great, I've never been more excited for a cup of coffee. I'll see you then, Clarke.

* * *

By 1:15pm, Clarke couldn't concentrate, no matter how hard she tried. Her mind kept drifting back to the brunette she was going to meet in less than an hour, and her heart would skip a beat just thinking about her forest green eyes. With a sigh, she admitted defeat and went back to her room to grab her purse and head out.

It was a beautiful spring day out, too beautiful to waste driving in the car, especially since it was only a twenty minute walk, tops, to the coffee shop. Along the way, she decided she would show up at Lexa's workplace ten or fifteen minutes before the brunette got off her shift to check the place out. She had never been in Trikru Records, and wanted to see Lexa as soon as possible without seeming creepy.

"Hello and welcome to Trikru Records," Indra greeted the blonde woman walking in the door. One of Indra's many rules was to always be courteous and greet potential customers as soon as they walk in the door, even though most of the folks who bought stuff from the music shop were regulars. Indra didn't recognize the blonde.

"Hi, thanks," Clarke responded with a soft smile at the tough-as-nails looking woman who stood behind the counter. The wide, friendly smile on the woman's face was a strange contrast to her overall rigid appearance.

"Is there anything I can help you find?" Indra asked when she noticed the blonde looking at the scenery like it was her first time being in the store. The wondrous look people gave the store on their first venture in was priceless. It was much larger on the inside than it appeared. Moderately high ceilings giving it an even larger appearance, and row after row of CD's and vinyl records.

"No, nothing in particular. I was actually recommended to check the store out," Clarke answered, her eyes still taking in every aspect of the store. It was gorgeous. Nyko's Books, the bookstore she worked at, was also larger than one would assume on the first glance inside, but Trikru Records had a more vibrant feel to it, music playing low in the background.

"Oh? Was it by an employee?"

"Yes, Lexa. She said she and Anya work here," Clarke responded, the ghost of a smile on her face saying Lexa's name.

"Are you the reason Alexandra has been smiling this morning?" Indra deadpanned, forcing back the urge to chuckle when the blonde blushed crimson red and drifted away towards the shelves of music.

Clarke was in awe, taking in every album title and band name on every CD and vinyl that her eyes passed over. She was on the opposite side of where Lexa was, and it was only twelve minutes until their coffee date. Lexa couldn't stop the exhilarating feels she had, lighthearted and carefree, a dopey smile sloppily painted on her face.

Lexa went to the back to bring out another box filled with CD's, moving towards the opposite side of where she was before to shelf them. She was completely in the zone, focused entirely on the task at hand to try and get done as much as she could before the alarm on her phone went off letting her know she was done working for the day.

The blonde spotted Lexa approaching, completely in her own world as she stocked the shelves. A smile crept on the blondes face as she stared in awe at the calm, content features in Lexa's face. She looked completely at peace.

Twisting slightly to the right to put a CD on its proper shelf, the brunette caught sight of Clarke in her peripheral vision. "Clarke," she smirked as she fully peered to the right, watching the blonde recognize she was spotted and turn bright red. "I thought we were meeting at the café?"

The blonde felt flustered having been caught in the act of gawking at Lexa. She tried to reply, her mouth forming around the words, but her voice box refused to work. This intensified her discombobulation and made her blush redden tenfold.

She took a moment, steeled herself, and tried again. "I decided to walk because of how beautiful it is out today, so I ended up getting here a bit early. I remembered you mentioning I should actually check this place out… And, well, I thought perhaps maybe we could walk to the café together," she surprised herself by her newfound confidence, every word coming out coherent instead of jumbled like her previous attempt.

A wave of amazement befell Lexa at Clarke's complete and utter straightforwardness. A genuine smile invaded her face, lighting up to her eyes as she replied, "I'd like that, Clarke." The blonde found herself gulping at the usage of her name, liking how she clucked her tongue a bit at the k sound.

"I'll look around until you're done then?" The blonde questioned. Lexa gave a firm nod in response before getting back to stocking the shelves with only eight minutes left on her shift. It took all her willpower not to beg Indra to let her off early.

While waiting for Lexa to finish her shift and then gather her things up, Clarke continued looking around the store in awe. The owner's pride could easily be seen by how everything was neat, clean, and well organized. Before the brunette finished up, Clarke rounded up a couple of albums and took them to the front desk where the tenacious woman who greeted her still stood.

"Will that be all today?" The woman asked as she rung up the four albums Clarke was purchasing. Clarke nodded and handed the stern looking woman her credit card.

"Have a splendid day," the woman said, her voice far too friendly for her serious looking demeanor, just as Lexa walked out from the back. Indra nodded in the brunette's direction, as if to acknowledge she was seen, "I'll see you tomorrow, Alexandra. Have a fun date."

Lexa's cheeks pinked up at Indra's candid statement, while Clarke, who stood facing her, had her mouth practically gaping open in surprise. "I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, boss," she joked, waving good-bye to her boss. It was a risky thing to say to Indra because of how stringent she could be, but Lexa was off the clock, which made it fair game. Lexa didn't realize that Indra had lightened up on her months after she started working at Trikru Records, seeing that the brunette was a hard worker and liked her job. However, Indra's reputation for being bullheaded made Lexa cautious to ever testing the limits of how laxed her boss was.

"Wow, so you told your boss you were going on a date, huh? Guess I'm really special then," Clarke joked, wiggling her eyebrows playfully.

"Haha, actually she just drew conclusions based on how I was acting this morning," Lexa said before she even thought about it. Once the words left her mouth, she stiffened, her eyes widening. "I mean, you know, that I was looking at my phone a lot," she quickly amended, as they continued to walk down the sidewalk side by side.

"I've been excited, too," Clarke admitted earnestly, hoping it would make Lexa feel a little bit better. Her stomach knotted at the thought of the brunette looking forward to a cup of coffee with her as she was.

"Mmm, can smell the coffee now," Lexa hummed happily, a vigorousness in her steps. "How do you like your coffee, Clarke?" The brunette asked, nudging her shoulder into the blondes.

"Lots of cream and sugar," she confessed and watched Lexa feign being hurt. "What? Let me guess, you like yours black?"

"With a touch of cream, yup," Lexa nodded, and Clarke made a yuck face. "Oh, come on, coffee loaded up with sugar and cream isn't even coffee, it's fake and sugary." The brunette couldn't help but laugh as Clarke glared over at her, but said nothing, knowing she had lost the battle.

"I like my coffee how I like my coffee," Clarke said with confidence as they approached the door to Grounders Café. Before she could reach out for the door handle, Lexa had already gracefully sidestepped around her to hold open the door for her. Clarke's eyebrow went up and she hesitantly went in first, a smirk lingering in the corners of her mouth.

"How about you go find us a table, I can order since you just want a cup with sugar and cream in it," Lexa suggested between laughs, ducking around Clarke tried to swat at her.

The blonde found an empty window spot and sat, awaiting Lexa to bring the coffee. She found herself admiring the beautiful view outside, people vigorously walking from place to place, talking with their friends and family, some even taking their dogs with them on a walk. _If only I had my sketchpad_ , Clarke thought to herself.

"Coffee diluted with lots of cream and extra, extra sugar," Lexa quipped as she approached with two cups of coffee and a brown paper bag. "I also grabbed a muffin, figured you might be the kind of gal who likes chocolate? If not, let me know what you want, I'll gladly go get that instead."

"I love chocolate," she said simply, taking the coffee Lexa was handing her and the brown paper bag that had two chocolate muffins in it. She unwrapped the muffin and took a bite, savoring the taste between sips of coffee. Lexa ate her own muffin and sipped her blacker, with a little bit of cream, coffee, but mostly relished in how authentic the blonde's facial expressions were as she drank her nasty coffee and the muffin.

"What's your favorite color?" The brunette found herself asking between a bite of chocolate muffin. She didn't take her eyes off Clarke, looking at her in fascination.

"Green," she said, noticing how that was also the color of Lexa's eyes. Eyes that she could so easily lose herself in. "You?"

"Hmm… Tie between light blue and orange, I think."

"You think?"

"Yes, Clarke, I think. Don't overthink this," Lexa jested, getting a snort from Clarke who got the joke.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, staring at their nearly devoured muffins or at each other. Clarke swore there was a faint electric hum between them when their eyes met, like an attraction so strong it could turn off a transformer. Every single time green met blue, they shared a smile and looked away almost in unison.

"Tell me something about yourself, Clarke," Lexa said after she finished eating her muffin, desiring to get to know the blonde more.

"Hummm, I don't know, what do you want to know?" She asked back, a quizzical look in her eyes.

"You will not make this easy, will you?" Lexa retorted with a playful smile. "Okay, fine. How about this, what made you choose pre-med?"

"My mom's a doctor, so I spent a lot of time when I was younger hanging around with her at the hospital she worked at. Guess being a doctor just felt like I'd be following in her footsteps," Clarke explained with a slight shrug. After everything that happened with her father and Finn, she just wanted to try and make her mom proud.

Lexa noted how dismissive Clarke was to the answer. It was like it was the natural career choice her mom would want, but not so much what she herself wanted. "Okay, moms a doctor. What about dad?" The brunette asked. Clarke flinched at the question like she had been hit. "Oh shit, I'm sorry, bad question?" She felt like she'd been punched in the gut when she seen the angst in Clarke's face.

"No… No, it's alright. He–he was an accountant," Clarke struggled, determined to not let her voice crack. Something about Lexa made the blonde feel in her bones that she could be trusted, and after waking up in a nightmare from a short siesta in Lexa's car, she almost felt like she owed the brunette some answers. "He died eight years ago." Clarke kept her attention on her muffin wrapper, fiddling with it.

Lexa reached across the table, taking Clarke's hand in hers and squeezed, "I'm so sorry, Clarke. Losing a parent, it isn't easy." The brunette's voice cracked a little by the end as she spoke from experience, her own eyes glossy with tears.

Clarke looked up at Lexa as she spoke, seeing anguish flicker across the brunettes face before settling in a stoic expression. It was the same kind of despair she had seen in her own face in the mirror many times before. Lexa had lost someone she loved, too. She didn't want to push her after her own confession, so she instead put her other hand on top of Lexa's, essentially holding the brunette's hand in both of hers, and gave her a soft, sad, knowing smile.

Lexa cleared her throat and fortified herself before trying to lighten the mood a bit, "have you ever considered joining the dark side, and, you know, having coffee without all that sugar and cream?"

"Are you offering to take me out for coffee again?" Clarke asked in a joking manner.

Lexa breathed over the lump forming in her stomach, looking Clarke square in the eyes. "How about dinner instead?"

* * *

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter, I'll have that out in another day or so. Meanwhile, please let me know what you thought :)**


	4. Guarded Confessions

**Here's the newest chapter everyone. Humongous thank you to a good friend, _Soso226_ , who gave me some suggestions on the direction of this chapter–if you haven't already, you should check out her stories!**

 **Please let me know what you thought via review or private message. I always appreciate suggestions for future chapters and feedback in general :) Thanks, and enjoy**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Guarded Confessions  
**

Clarke took in Lexa's question in silence, looking out the café window, trying to figure out if the brunette had a truly warped sense of humor or if her proposal for dinner was genuine. Unfortunately for her, stolen glances at nearby pedestrians outside the window didn't help her or her dilemma, and she knew she would eventually have to brace herself and just answer.

Releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding, the blonde bit her lip, deciding to test the waters with a lighthearted joke. "Come on, we both know this was probably the worst coffee meetup you've ever experienced, starting with my sugary coffee choice." She forced a smile to her face, but it was as faux as the leather-like material the booths were made from.

Lexa withdrew her hand from Clarke's and looked down at the table, trying to make sense of what seemed like a rejection from the blonde. "Ah. Alright. I–I understand, Clarke," she managed halfheartedly, her voice giving away how defeated she felt.

The blonde felt her mouth go dry when it became clear that Lexa was being completely serious about her dinner offer. Still, she felt compelled to try and confirm, fearful of misreading the situation. "Wait, were you being serious?" She practically whispered, her mouth embarrassingly gaped open a little in surprise.

Saying nothing, Lexa simply looked up, her green eyes meeting Clarke's blue, and in that very moment the blonde knew with a level of absolution that the invitation to dinner was as serious as a heart attack. There was no doubting the truth and hope that lingered in the brunette's green eyes. With both their sets of eyes mirroring the same emotions, Lexa impulsively felt her breath hitch in her throat, her mouth cottony and thick.

"I–I though–t," Clarke tried, her words jumbled, unable to get past the dumbfounded feeling knowing that Lexa actually wanted to see her again after their disaster of a coffee session. It was incredibly hard for her to wrap her head around the idea that the brunette did want to see her again, let alone advancing it from a simple and friendly coffee to something more intimate like dinner. Her mind was swimming in fog, unable to process the overloaded amount of information and emotions flooding around all at once.

"Breathe, Clarke," the brunette urged her quietly after having taken notice to the confusion written plain as day on Clarke's face. It amazed her how beautiful of a sight it was and just how easily she could lose herself in the blonde's exquisite blue eyes…

"Yes," the blonde said in a soft, vulnerable voice, tearing Lexa from her thoughts. "To dinner, yes–" She amended before biting her lip to avoid rambling on unnecessarily, her eyes glued to the table shyly.

A wave of happiness cascaded over Lexa like she had just won a prestigious prize or something when she heard the blonde's four simple words. It took every ounce of her self control not to physically jump up and down for joy. Something about Clarke made the brunette feel weightless, like the normal worries and stresses of life were nothing more than a stubbed toe. They barely knew one another, but Lexa felt an ironclad knot form in her stomach every time she seen Clarke smile or bite her lip or say her name or… Okay, pretty much every damn thing the blonde did or said made her stomach do somersaults.

Clarke heard the telltale sound that she received a new text message and glanced down at her phone, happy for an iota of relief from the nerve wracking conversation. A smirk played over her lips when she read the message.

 **[3:26pm] Raven:** Gurrrrrl, you better not have forgotten ladies night tonight! Remember, not taking no for an answer!

A natural, throaty laugh uncontrollably escaped the blonde as she shook her head playfully, completely forgetting everything around her for just a mere moment. Lexa looked at the blonde with a quizzical expression on her face, eyebrow arched, but couldn't help the lopsided smile that ghosted the corners of her lips hearing Clarke's laugh. She wanted to make her laugh like that.

One innocent glance up at the brunette had Clarke grinning like a fool, too, only to blush a second later when she realized she probably looked stupid. She decided to clue Lexa in on what was going on, instead, "I'm being dragged to ladies night by Octavia and Raven tonight." She shook her head once again, a sly smile still pulling at the corners of her lips, "and well, I did try to decline, but it's very hard to when you're pinned to your own bed and being tickled into accepting."

"Oh, so you're ticklish, huh?" Lexa said, suggestively wiggling her eyebrows.

"That's all you got out of that?" Clarke snorted, pushing her free hand into Lexa's shoulder.

"Hey, ow!" The brunette said, feigning being hurt. She turned her body so Clarke only had a profile view of her and forced herself to keep up the charade.

"I'm sorry, Lexa! I didn't, I–" Clarke said with concern plastered on her face until she seen Lexa glance in her direction, humor in her eyes. "Oh, wow, you're a jerk you know that!" She threw up her hands in defeat, and the brunette couldn't suppress the laughter she bottled up as she teetered in the booth, giggling like crazy.

Clarke simply rolled her eyes before deciding to give the brunette a moment to catch her breath. Quietly she gathered up the muffin wrappers and the empty brown paper bag, slid out from the booth seat she sat in, and headed to the trash can to discard them.

"You're still a jerk," she sneered to Lexa as she returned from the trash can, though amusement was in her eyes. The brunette's face was red from laughing so hard.

"You love it and you know it," the brunette retorted, a sparkle in her eyes. "Plus, you should have seen your face," she added, bursting back into a small song of laughter.

"Uh-huh," the blonde replied mockingly, standing in front of Lexa and grabbing onto the woman's arms to help pull her up from the booth, "now come on before we get kicked out of my favorite café."

"Favorite, huh?" Lexa said, sobering up, as she willingly let Clarke try to haul her to her feet. When they stood in front of one another, the brunette felt herself stiffen as her instincts screamed at her to close what little distance was between them and plant a kiss on the blonde. Dismissing the thoughts, Lexa turned around to grab both of their coffees before turning back and handing Clarke hers. "Your sugary java," she said jokingly.

In response, Clarke nudged Lexa's shoulder and rolled her eyes before grabbing her drink from the brunette. They walked side-by-side to the café exit, but before they made it to the door, Clarke spotted a familiar barista who often served her when she came in for coffee. She smiled and waved at the woman before leaving.

Lexa eyed the blonde as she waved to one of the baristas as if she knew her. "A friend?" She asked curiously, feeling a slight pang of jealousy rip into her chest, but she quickly abolished the feeling.

"Not exactly a friend, no. Harper is one of the two barista's who tend to be on shift when I'm getting my coffee," Clarke answered, glancing at Lexa, who wore an unreadable expression. "Why, you jealous?" She added and pushed herself into Lexa playfully.

"Definitely," Lexa replied with a humorous smirk, even though she heard the truth to what she said as it hit her own ears. Why, exactly, was she jealous over a freaking barista?

They walked a little bit in silence, just enjoying one another's company. "Are you doing anything tonight?" Clarke found herself asking without really thinking about it, wanting desperately to try and make plans to see the woman with the most beautiful shade of green eyes again. Before giving the brunette an opportunity to answer, Clarke followed through with her short burst of confidence, "If not, I was wondering if you'd want to join me, Raven, and Octavia for ladies night? We usually just go to a certain bar and hangout."

"I'd love to, Clarke. Would you mind if I dragged Anya along?" Lexa answered genuinely, an equally authentic smile on her face. In her peripheral vision she seen the blonde nod sheepishly. "Text me the details, then," she added afterward, her smile deepening.

The two had backtracked to Trikru Records and were around the back at the employee parking. Neither of them were really paying much attention to where they were heading because of how immersed in each other's company they were. However, when Lexa spotted her car, she remembered Clarke mentioning she walked.

"Would you like me to drive you home?" The brunette offered. It had gotten a bit nippier out since the blonde arrived, so walking back home might not be as pleasant, especially considering Clarke had neglected to wear a hoodie.

"I don't want to inconvenience you–" Clarke began to decline politely when a rush of cold air blew by, causing her to shiver a little. She stifled the rest of her declination when the brunette quietly unzipped and took off her hoodie before placing it on Clarke's shoulders. She blushed a little at the sweet gesture, which made Lexa's eyes linger on Clarke.

"You're staring," the blonde stated matter-of-factly, her blush deepening. Sheepishly she sidestepped around Lexa and leaned against her car, waiting for the brunette to snap out of wherever her thoughts were roaming.

"Sorry, just had a beautiful view," Lexa admitted timidly, thankful to be looking at the blonde in the eyes as she spoke because she got the firsthand look at Clarke staring at her with a shocked face. Unable to help herself, she continued to shamelessly flirt with the beautiful blonde in front of her. "What? Have you ever looked at yourself in a mirror, woman?"

Clarke, baffled by yet another unexpected, flirtatious comment from the green eyed beauty, simply snorted in response. Before she knew it, the brunette was closing what little distance there was between them, essentially trapping Clarke against the car.

"What are you doing?" Clarke asked breathlessly, her heart thumping wildly in her chest at the close proximity of the two.

"Unlocking the car," Lexa admitted with a crooked, mischievous smile on her face, but pure desire in her eyes, as she leaned around Clarke to unlock the vehicle. Her resolve was crumbling with each passing second in which she stood close to the blonde, and steeled herself against the urges lingering in her mind. The urge to wrap her arms around Clarke's waist and kiss her passionately…

"Ahem, there you go, Clarke," the brunette said after she unlocked the door, turning a bit too quickly to head over to the other side of the car. Had Clarke not been standing idly in front of the passenger side door, she could have valiantly opened the door for her, too. She was almost glad of where the blonde chose to stand, as it allowed her time to purify her thoughts as she entered the driver side of her own car.

The brunette didn't want to get ahead of herself. She didn't even know if Clarke swung that way, let alone if the woman with gorgeous blue eyes felt even remotely the same way. More importantly, she didn't know how to feel herself. No matter how often she tried to curb the simmering desire, every time she looked in the blonde's direction or spoke to her, it reignited the foreign desire fluttering in the pit of her stomach.

"This was fun." Clarke's voice was soft as she spoke, her eyes glued to the scenery outside the passenger side window. Neither of them had uttered a word since they entered the car, but it wasn't an awkward type of silence. It was a mutual one, a comforting one, like two long-time friends who knew one another well enough to let the silent void slip around them and their thoughts.

"It was," Lexa hummed, stealing a glimpse at the blonde sitting beside her because they were at a red light. Her heart fluttered when Clarke's eyes met hers, an indulging shiver ran down her back like an avalanche.

The drive back to Clarke's apartment went by too quickly and they both wanted to cherish the fleeting moments they had with one another before they had to leave one another's presence. Of course Clarke would see Lexa later in the evening for girls night, but that didn't dissolve the nagging, foreign feeling in her heart.

"I'll text you the details of tonight when I talk to Rae and O," Clarke promised. "Text me when you get home?" She asked gingerly, shifting in her seat a bit to calm the unsettling anxiousness she felt.

The brunette heard the exposure in Clarke's words, the hollow request for them to continue communicating even after Lexa drives away. It brought a soft smile to her face, the kind that lit up in her eyes, too, and she acted on her gut, reaching her hand to clasp Clarke's and answered the unspoken question, "I will."

Seeming to understand, the blonde smiled back and nodded before she gave the brunette's hand a squeeze and opened the door, exiting the car. Lexa didn't leave until she seen Clarke go inside. Even then, it was hard to force herself to drive away.

* * *

Clarke caught the tail end of a question as she opened the door, "…she'll try to weasel out by not coming home?" She spotted Raven and Octavia sitting around the kitchen table, the aroma of omelets wafting to her nose as she walked further in the apartment. Octavia had a knack for cooking whenever there was time to kill, which neither Clarke or Raven minded.

"Oh honey, I'm home," Clarke said, mock-imitating a man's voice before bursting out into a song of laughter at the stern looks her friends gave her.

"You have impeccable timing, princess. We were just discussing how we could get you back from trying to evade girls night," Octavia said with a mischievous glimmer in her eyes.

"Didn't you already get me this morning, twice?" Clarke reminded Octavia with a slight frown at the memories of being tickled into submission. "Plus, I'm here now. Oh, and we have a couple of additions to girls night…" She added, trailing off as her both of her friends gave her a weird look she couldn't decipher.

"Additions?" Raven asked with an arched eyebrow, unsure what her blonde friend meant.

"Yes. Lexa and Anya will be joining," the blonde replied cautiously. For as long as she had known Octavia and Raven, there had never been any additional people to their girls nights. Hell, they had coined it 'girls night' to keep Bellamy away.

Both Raven and Octavia remained quiet for several seconds before looking at one another as if to have a silent conversation. Eventually they shrugged their shoulders, concluding that they really didn't care, and turned their attention back on Clarke.

"On one condition," Raven negotiated, Octavia nodding her head in agreement to Raven as if she caught onto what she was saying. In response, Clarke rolled her eyes, but nodded her head as if to encourage her brunette friend to continue speaking. "Tell us everythinggggggg," she said, jumping up from her seat.

Of course her friends would know that she wouldn't invite anyone to girls night unless it were serious…

"Uh, what do you mea–?" She asked, pretending to be clueless as to what they were on about.

"Cut the shit, princess," Octavia interjected, giving her friend an outrageous glare.

"Okay, okay," Clarke huffed a sigh and sat down at the kitchen table with her friends, who looked at her with curious eyes. "After you left for the bar," she nodded her head towards Raven, "and you got dug in talking to Lincoln, Lexa and I started talking. It was just chitchatting, mostly, but then when you left to go home with Lincoln––taking your car and keys with you––" Clarke glowered at Octavia, who held her hands up apologetically, "I kind of mentioned aloud that I'd bet Rae was piss drunk and I'd have to call a cab to get her home."

"Oh princess, how well you know me…" Raven quipped humorously, putting her hand over her heart.

"Shh Rae!" Octavia nudged Raven before focusing back on her blonde best friend, leaning her head on her elbows, "then what Clarke?"

Clarke couldn't help but laugh at how engrossed her friend was in the story. She loved Octavia's compassion and how genuine she was. "Well, Lexa offered to give us a ride. She helped me lug Raven in the car, and Raven, I love you, but you were like a massive lump of fricking coal!" Raven threw back her head and laughed, but didn't disagree with the statement. She knew how awful she was to take care of when she was shitfaced.

"But whattt does this have to do with her and Anya coming to girls night?" Octavia questioned, not completely on the same page. Raven nodded her head to Octavia in agreement, even though she was completely lost to the humor of knowing she had to be dragged home in her poor condition.

"Uh, well… I sort of offered Lexa a drink, you know after she helped me haul Raven inside, and she declined, but suggested we get coffee tomorrow––err, today––instead," the blonde answered, her cheeks warming a little at the memory, but she wasn't sure why. "I just got back from that coffee date, and I invited her last minute. I thought maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to try to get to know Bellamy's girlfriends friends more."

"Ohhhhh mmmmyyy Goooddddd," Raven dragged out the words with the enthusiasm of a five year old who had a boat full of sugar. "You totally like her!"

The blonde couldn't help but get a goofy grin on her face and turn beet red. It took her a few minutes of looking at the counter top, apprehensive of the facial expression her friends would have, before she timidly admitted, "I barely know her, Rae. But, I don't know, I just… There's this connection. I feel like I've known her for years or something."

In practical unison, Raven and Octavia jumped up from their seats and ran over to where Clarke was sitting, lifting her out of her chair in a death-grip-like hug. That was their unspoken way of saying they were happy for her, and she knew it.

* * *

Once Lexa seen Clarke go in her apartment, the brunette drove up a couple of blocks before pulling over. She knew she would have to face her best friends series of arctic questions eventually, especially if she was going to get Anya to show up at this girls night Clarke had invited her to. Pulling out her device, Lexa dialed Anya's number.

"Hi, commander," Anya answered the phone, amusement in her voice.

Lexa rolled her eyes at the nickname. "Hey, Ayn, I need you to do a solid for me, please?" She pleaded playfully. Anya's idea of a good night was kicking back and binge watching something on Netflix while chugging beers, so as much as she wanted a wing-woman on the little festivities she was invited to, she was also trying to drag her best friend along to keep her from rotting on the couch.

"What'ya need, babes?" Anya asked, her voice equally playful. God, they had the strangest damn dynamic.

"I got invited to a little girls get together and I basically pegged you as my plus one," Lexa spared no time beating around the bush.

"Christ, why would you do that? You know how I hate stupid shindigs with girly women," Anya replied and made a distasteful sound with her tongue.

The brunette laughed, realizing her friend misunderstood completely what she was saying. "Ayn, I don't mean a book club, I mean that Clarke invited me to hang out with Raven and Octavia and her at a bar tonight for what they apparently call 'girls night'," she explained, not really thinking about how she was wording it.

"Oh, Clarrrkkkeee invited you, huh?" Her best friend asked, catching onto the reason why she was being dragged along. "Isn't that the blonde from yesterday?"

Lexa grunted a confirmation knowing she in for a billion questions, but all she heard was the phone drop to the floor and laughing in the distance. Rolling her eyes, she put her best friend on speakerphone and pulled out from where she was parked, waiting for Anya to get done her fit of laughter.

It took several minutes before Anya picked back up the phone, stifling back another fit of laughter. "Echo totally owes me fifty bucks, now," she stated matter of factly.

"What? Are you serious, Anastasia?" Lexa said heatedly, glowering at the road instead of her phone. For some reason saying Anya's full first name just made the dam of laughter she was holding back let loose once again. Rather than patiently waiting once again for her friend to catch her breath, Lexa muttered a couple curses before shouting into the phone, knowing she had been put on speakerphone as well, "meet me at my house, Anya," and hung up.

* * *

Sipping her now cold coffee, Lexa sat slouched on her couch waiting for her best friend. Anya knocked on the door to alert the brunette that she was here, but let herself in. They were practically sisters, and as such Anya had her own set of keys. She had a set of Anya's, too.

A knowing grin was on Anya's face when the door opened, her eyes sparkling no doubt leftover from how hard she laughed earlier. Not bothering with greetings, she simply sprawled on the couch next to Lexa.

"So, Clarke," Anya began, wanting to press for details.

"Before you start, it isn't like that, Ayn. I didn't fuck her," Lexa spoke before her best friend could squeeze her for details.

"But you want to," her best friend guessed, glancing at the woman who was like her sister.

"Honestly?" Lexa asked nervously.

"Duh, dumb shit," Anya said, furrowing her brow at her friend's sudden cheesiness.

"I think I might like her," the brunette said, simultaneously letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

Surprise flickered across her best friend's face before settling on understanding. They both remained quiet for a couple minutes while Anya stewed on the new information. Lexa had never really been a relationship person because she really didn't let anyone get close enough to her for that step to really happen. Well, there were a few people who tried to tie the brunette down––Becca and Nia being two immediate examples––but they didn't last more than a few months and she could tell her best friend just wasn't into it.

But Lexa outright admitting she liked someone? That never happened, ever. Seriously, never.

"Wow," Anya said eventually, her voice mouse quiet. It wasn't judgmental, but more genuine shock. "That's a new one, Lex."

"Ugh, I know… I know," Lexa answered, putting her face in her hands, elbows on her knees. "I don't even know for sure if that's what this is. I mean, you know me, I've never really had that 'click' every sappy movie talks about. Hell, I don't even know if she likes women or not." The brunette threw back her hands at the end of her sentence, frustrated.

"Question is, are you willing to let her in?" Her best friend asked softly, knowing that would be the only way for a relationship to ever truly blossom between Clarke and Lexa.

"I–I think so, Ayn. I mean… We had coffee today, right? And, we were talking and it was casual and relaxing and I was actually interested. I asked her why she chose her major, and she like shrugged it off saying it was what her mother was, so I asked what about her father," Lexa said, all of the words flying out of her mouth a mile a minute. "She opened up, so randomly, and told me what happened to him, that he died… And all I wanted to do was pull her in my arms and take her pain away, Anya."

The brunette swallowed thickly, her own eyes glossy thinking about how painful that must have been for Clarke and how she could understand the agony she seen in the blonde's face. She tried her best to hold back her tears, but felt herself slowly losing control. Of all places for her to lose control, in the presence of her best and most trusted friend, Anya, was the safest.

Anya wrapped her arms around her best friend, pulling her close to her and rubbed her shoulders while Lexa slowly broke down. "I'm sorry, Lex," she said simply, knowing that the brunette wasn't one for talking about her own rough past. "Did you tell her about your father and Costia?" She asked cautiously.

Pulling out of her friends arms, the brunette swiped her face with her sleeve and took a moment to calm herself before speaking. "No, but it wasn't really because I didn't want to. I'm… I just don't know how to put a voice to my losses, Ayn. You and your parents were godsends to adopt me, bring me willingly into your home after Marcy just upped and left." Lexa's voice was harsh and clipped by the end talking about Marcy, her birth mother.

"Lexy, you know your mom just didn't know how to deal with it–" Anya said carefully, holding onto Lexa's hand as she spoke, giving it a squeeze for reassurance.

"I know, Ayn. I know," the brunette sighed softly. "It's just hard to grasp. I was only four and lost my older sister and father in one fell swoop, then my own mother just… She left."

"Losing Costia and her husband wasn't easy on her, either, babe. She didn't do the right thing by leaving, not by a fucking mile, and she can't take back what she did. Who knows if she even wants to, but the most important thing here is you," Anya consoled, giving Lexa's hand another squeeze.

"I don't know where I'd be if it weren't for you and your parents," the brunette stated honestly, her eyes welling up with tears again. When she was only four, her entire world crumbled in just a week.

One week she was humming along happily, the next she was standing in front of two gravestones by her lonesome self because her mother abandoned her. It started a whirlwind of rebellion on Lexa's behalf, as that was how she dealt with the issues, but Gracie and Paul, Anya's parents, were kindred souls who put up with the brunette's tantrums and would sooth her back to sleep at night when she woke up from nightmares. Eventually she dealt with the losses in the only way she could, she locked them in a closet in her soul and threw away the key. She knew in her bones that she would eventually have to find a way to let those demons out and come to terms with them, but that was not today.

Sighing, Lexa decided to basket the discussion of her childhood losses and focus on why she originally asked Anya to join her. "Let's talk about this later, okay? Right now, I still need you to please be the most amazing sister in the world and come with me to this thing tonight?" She asked, mustering up all the pep she could and threw in a sad smile.

"Fine, but only because I want to meet the woman who's got my best friend questioning the life of a single woman," Anya said with a smirk.

"You're the best, Ayn."

"Don't I know it," her best friend said with a wink before ushering them to Lexa's room to help her figure out what to wear.

* * *

 **Please let me know what you thought. If you have any recommendations, please don't hesitate to let me know, I'm always open to new ideas :)**


	5. Girls Night

**New chapter time. The big thing I was striving for in this chapter was to further show the dynamic Clarke has with her friends and equally the relationship Lexa has with Anya. However, I also wanted for them to intermingle, since Anya doesn't really know Clarke or her friends that well, and vise versa.**

 **I really hope you enjoy this chapter and feel free to leave me a review and/or private message me with suggestions or feedback. Either are greatly appreciated!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Girls Night**

Lexa had received a text message from Clarke not long after Anya had begun helping her get ready for their "girls night out" adventure, something of a foreign concept to both brunettes. To them, girls night sounded like something older women would call their crochet club or a stuck-up, fancy wording for a girls book club. Not some kind of small get together among best friends at a bar, but they simply shrugged their shoulders and got back to getting Lexa dressed to turn heads.

Anya disapproved of nearly every article of clothing in Lexa's closest, muttering a wise-ass remark to each and every withdrawn piece and why it wasn't 'the right fit'. Just when she thought all hope was lost, Lexa tried on her snug fit, black v-neck tee shirt and Anya perked up.

"That's it right there, Lex," she said, nodding her head solemnly towards the shirt. "You definitely pull off that edgy-punk-rocker look really well, but you wanna wow this girl, right?" She waited a beat, in which time Lexa rolled her eyes, but simply nodded. "That right there is it. A step away from your usual attire, but not so drastically different that it screams 'not you'. I mean, c'mon, it was in your closet, luv. Now throw on a pair of skinny jeans and move the hell over, I'm not driving all the way back to my house just to get changed."

Lexa rolled her eyes once again, a glimmer of humor in them. She snagged a pair of black skinny jeans before moving to where her best friend stood, letting the woman rifle through her closet in search of her own attire for the night.

"Seriously, Lex?" Anya said, throwing her best friend a glare from inside her closet, spotting her favorite band tee shirt shoved all the way on the left hand side among the rest of her shirts. Her best friend didn't bother denying that she had hijacked her shirt, but instead playfully whistled. Anya threw a balled up pair of jeans at her best friend, who ducked gracefully out of the way.

It took Anya about fifteen minutes to find suitable clothes, in which time she found several pieces of her own clothing in her best friend's closet. Guess that was the clear indicator that she hadn't gone out with Lexa anywhere in too long.

"We look hot," Lexa confirmed as she and Anya stood in the body length mirror.

"Tell me something I don't know," Anya joked with a smirk. Her brunette best friend stifled the urge to sarcastically reply, but instead threw a grin at her best friend's reflection and wrapped her arms around the woman for a hug.

* * *

"Clllaaaaarrrrkkkkeeee, cooommmmeeee onnnnnn," Raven complained, drawing her voice out for effect, knocking roughly on the bathroom door. "You've been in there too long! A shower does NOT take twelve hours!"

"It hasn't been twelve hours," Octavia replied honestly while she straightened her hair.

"Can it, O," Raven said, whirling around on her heel to glare at the woman before turning her attention back to the white door. "Fuck sake, Clarke, I wanna shower, too, you know! You're taking all the damn hot water!"

"Rae, seriously, she's only been in there for fifteen minut–" Octavia began to point out, trying to curb her best friend's annoyance. Raven was many things, but patient… Not her strongest suit. It was what made the three of them fantastic roommates. Whatever one of them lacked, another had enough gumption to stand in for, like Raven's impatience and Octavia being the voice of reason to said woman's impatience.

"Damn know-it-all," Raven muttered, cutting off Octavia, as she stalked back to the living room, plopping down on the couch because she couldn't begin getting ready until she showered.

"Ow, my feelings, they're bruised!" Octavia quipped, jokingly using her brush as a pretend-shield.

Before Raven had the opportunity to suggest where Octavia could shove her brush, she heard the bathroom door squeak open and Clarke announce that she had finished using it. "Finally, geez!" She said before disappearing into the bathroom.

"Does she seem quirkier than usual?" Clarke asked with a raised eyebrow. Octavia, refusing to be shoved in the middle of a potential roommate quarrel, simply shrugged her shoulders neutrally.

Shrugging her own shoulders, Clarke walked back to her own room and began pillaging through her closet and drawers for something to wear. Unlike the normal girls night out, the blonde wanted to be dressed sexier, hopeful to get the attention of a certain invited brunette.

"Damn, you really do like this chick," Octavia speculated from the doorway, eyeing Clarke going through her drawers and closet half-frantically. She had never seen her best friend seem so unnerved.

The blonde grunted in reply. She didn't want to speak for her voice might betray just how unsteady she truly was. Not that her dismay wasn't already incredible visible. In actuality, she just wasn't sure how to stomach the thoughts and feelings that washed over her at the thought of seeing Lexa again.

The brunette sauntered further into Clarke's room and plopped down on the blonde's bed, studying her feverishly. She remained both quiet and still as a rock, not wanting to rattle the blonde anymore than she clearly already was. Of the three best friends, Clarke was always the anchor that kept them steady, much like a leader is for their people. She had witnessed her best friend shoulder the brunt of many arguments and coax the three of them through so much.

Octavia and Raven jested a lot––and actually that was probably what made the two as close as they were, the amount joking they did––but neither would ever deny the fact that Clarke was the mainstay, that with every ounce of certainty she was what kept them afloat. That single factoid made seeing the blonde all squirrelly even more surreal and reaffirmed how foreign it was to witness firsthand.

Part of her was happy for her best friend, that she was finally in a place where she felt she could try and be happy after all of the loss and torment she seen her go through, but the other half of her was terrified that this Lexa person would be Clarke's undoing. What if this woman, who Clarke is obviously beginning to really develop feelings for, doesn't reciprocate those feelings, or worse, leads her best friend on?

Noiselessly, Octavia left Clarke's bedroom and ambled determinedly into the bathroom where she knew Raven still was.

Of course Raven didn't hear the bathroom door squeak open over the sound of the running shower head, and jumped when she heard someone tap gently on the glass door that separated the shower from the bathroom.

"Holy shit, what the fuck!" Raven exclaimed breathlessly as she pinned her naked body against the back of the cold shower wall. Instinctively she grabbed onto a random bottle of shampoo, intending to use it as a weapon.

"Chill your tits, Rae, it's just me," Octavia said laughingly before adding, "I wanna talk to you without the princess overhearing and you happen to be in a prime spot right here and now."

Raven grumbled inaudible curse words through her gritted teeth, shivering slightly as her body warmed up to the cold shower wall. Octavia was known for being the sneaky ninja of their group, but trespassing when someone is showering? That was a new one. Kind of also implied just how dire the situation was in her brunette best friend's eyes.

"Elaborate," Raven said, clearly interested in what the brunette had to say. She slid the shower glass door open and peeked her head out a little for a glimpse at her brunette best friend, hopeful for any kind of hint at what was about to be discussed. Unfortunately Octavia was facing the bathroom door, obvious to give her best friend privacy, even though she had seen Raven stark naked running to her room before.

Octavia, who hadn't planned a lick of what she was about to say and shifted uncomfortably on her feet. "That girl Clarke invited to girls night, the one she likes, Lexa. It's uh… It's serious, Rae. She's in her room right now tossing it upside down trying to find the perfect outfit to wear. We've known her since we were tikes, you know as well as I that she's never done that before. Ever. Closest to that kind of frantic I've ever seen Clarke was when she had her job interview at Nyko's Books, and that was just her being nervous about getting the job." The brunette paused, mostly to try and get together where she was heading with this bombshell of information.

"I think tonight we need to try and get a feel out for this Lexa chick," Octavia concluded anxiously, putting her fingers on her temples, stressed. She was apprehensive to continue, unsure if she sounded like an overprotective best friend or if her concerns were reasonable. "If whatever Clarke feels isn't reciprocated or, worse, she leads Clarke on… I don't know if she'd recover, Rae, I really don't. You seen how long it took her to get past losing her father and Finn." Bile threatened in the pit of her stomach thinking of the turmoil her best friend went through, the look of utter anguish that resided in her eyes for years. The blonde had thrown herself into her studies, more determined than ever to follow in her mother's footsteps as a doctor, to try and help prevent people from losing their loved ones the way she had lost hers.

Raven listened and mulled over Octavia's words in silence. Pangs of fear billowed in her chest at Octavia's words, the dawning truth behind each syllable spoken. "You're right, O. Tonight we'll make it our mission to get to know Lexa, but I think for Clarke's sake we're going to have to do this subtly. If she gets even the slightest whiff of us trying to poke our noses in this, she'll gut us."

"Agreed," Octavia stated and ran a hand through her hair before changing the subject. "I'll let you get back to showering, just don't sing, you'll cause an earthquake!" Octavia quipped playfully, even though her facial expression showed how worried she was over the situation with Clarke. She was thankful she remained facing the bathroom door so Raven couldn't see her face.

"Just for that I'm going to sing extra loud!" Raven retorted with a faux malicious laugh before shutting the glass door and returning back to her shower. True to her word she sung extremely loud the rest of her shower.

* * *

"Nervous?" Anya asked with a raised eyebrow as Lexa paced the length of her house, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Uh-huh," Lexa replied spontaneously, her mind elsewhere. Knowing the blonde she had become captivated with would be there made her beyond 'nervous' of the little get together at the bar, even though said blonde was the one who invited her. What she was feeling was brand new to her, something she never felt in association with a person before, and therefore had absolutely no freaking idea how to handle it.

Anya, who was starting to get a little uneasy herself with Lexa pacing back and bloody forth, launched herself off the couch and strode over to her best friend, putting her arms on her shoulders and forcing their eyes to meet. "Lexa, you gotta pull yourself together, babe." She paused to turn her best friend in the direction of her kitchen before beginning again, "Get a glass of water and talk to me."

Nodding at the advice, Lexa set off to the kitchen, fumbling around her cabinet for a mug to fill with tap water. Her hands were shaking and her breathing was shallow over the lump that had formed in her throat at the thought of trying to put a voice to her concerns. Despite all that, the brunette managed to fill the mug with water and sip it delicately, thinking of how she could express the mass of jumbled words bolting through her head.

Remaining completely mute, Anya watched Lexa fight an internal war. It was clear that she had no idea how to explain what was happening because it was brand new to her. Anya had never seen her best friend blunder over herself over a girl before. In all honesty, she had just drawn the conclusion years ago that her best friend wasn't the type of girl to really do relationships, but instead have a small group of close friends she loved like family. It kind of made the older brunette wonder what it was about this blonde woman, Clarke, that had Lexa in a tizzy.

Going into councilor mode, Anya waltzed over to the kitchen and ushered Lexa to sit at the kitchen table. She took a seat aside her. "I know this is new for you, Lex, but we both know you have to put words to this or you're going to implode." Anya gave her best friend an encouraging smile, putting her hand atop Lexa's.

After losing her parents, Lexa suffered tremendously with panic attacks. It was like her brain was stuttering over so much at once that it seized up and she would pace back and forth trying desperately to rectify the issue. When this happened, Anya would sit her best friend down and talk her through what was happening, basically allow her brain to map out the answers it was unsuccessfully reaching for. Most times it worked wonders, but in more extreme cases, Lexa would, as Anya coined it, implode. She would rock back and forth in her seat with balled fists and unshed tears welled in her eyes, her dangerously on the verge of hyperventilation. It would turn from a brain fart, of sorts, to a full blown panic attack.

Lexa put her head against the wooden table, cool to the touch, and tapped her free hand rhythmically to try and help calm her rapid breathing. Besides tapping her hand, the brunette didn't move for several moments, trying to quell the brewing panic attack and logically sort out what the hell she was feeling.

Many, many minutes later, the brunette lifted her head from the table. Her eyes met Anya's, who was still staring at her, concern in her features. With a barely audible sigh, Lexa whispered, fear laced in her words, "I don't know how to feel about this, Ayn."

"I know, Lex," Anya replied softly, her voice calming and soothing. She squeezed her best friend's hand, wishing she could curb the woman's fears, even slightly. It was more and more apparent by the second that she had already begun falling for the blonde, Clarke. She only hoped Clarke was feeling similarly or at least not mean enough to lead Lexa on, otherwise her best friend might not be able to recover. As it was she was barely hanging on most days. "Baby steps, okay? First, we'll find out if she likes women, okay? Don't get ahead of yourself or invested or anything, just take it as it comes." She hoped her friend would listen to what was said.

"What if she's not?" Lexa asked, her voice cracked a little at the end. The brunette cleared her throat in attempts to downplay her pitchy voice and took a deep breath to steady herself further. She knew the answer to the question, even as she asked it, but didn't want to believe that she was starting to really like someone who could possibly be straight. Wouldn't that just be her fucking luck?

"Baby steps," Anya reminded her best friend with a stern, motherly look on her face. It was the type of facial expression that Lexa always cracked up to, and this time was no exception, as the brunette got one glance at Ayn's face and a wide smile lit her face before she started giggling.

"Baby steps," the brunette agrees with a slight nod. She closes her eyes and takes a few deep breathes before raising from the chair. "We better get going if we want to meet up with them on time."

As the two headed towards Lexa's car, Anya popped the address into her phone's GPS and chattered normally the entire drive to Jahas.

* * *

Octavia and Raven critically examined a nervous Clarke in the backseat of Octavia's car the entire drive to Jahas. They tried to include her in conversation like normal, but the blonde was in her own little world, the wheels could practically be heard turning in her head.

Eventually the two left Clarke alone to give her space and began talking about work. Raven, Octavia, and Bellamy owned and ran an auto repair shop, Arkadia. Raven and Bellamy did most of the mechanical end of things, while Octavia managed the books and kept up a good rapport with customers. On occasion when they were short staffed, the book-managing brunette would make an entrance and help out, but it wasn't as much her forte as it was her business partners.

"We're here," Octavia said as she parked, trying to get Clarke's attention. She nudged her arm at Raven, silently asking her to take over getting Clarke out of Lala Land.

"Hey, princess, we're here," Raven tried, her voice a bit louder than Octavia's was. When that didn't get the blonde's attention, Rae let out an abrasive whistle that made everyone in the car besides herself jump and garnered another, more forceful, nudge and several colorful curse words from Octavia.

"Holy cow, why'd you do that?" Clarke asked, her body still in panic mode from being shocked into reality.

"You were drooling on Octavia's seats," Raven quipped playfully before sobering up. "We're here." She stopped herself from going on about how Clarke had been in her own head.

The three left the car and entered Jahas, immediately greeted by familiarity. Wells Jaha, the bartender, spotted them and waved enthusiastically. Wells met the three ladies in high school after he was transferred newly to the school. They were kind, welcoming, and brought him into the fold of their clique without passing judgement on him. For a short time he had a big crush on Octavia, but she didn't see him that way–hell, she probably didn't even know about that crush.

Spotting Wells, all three drifted to the bar, smiles on their faces at seeing their friend. He knew that Jahas was their place of choice for girls night, which happened usually a handful of times a month, depending on how badly the three needed a night away.

"Girls night?" Wells asked with a smirk, grabbing three glasses and preparing each of the three with their usual order. Like clockwork they nodded in unison and beamed grins at Wells as he placed their drinks in front of them.

"This is why I love Jahas," Raven hummed as she sipped her whiskey neat.

"The alcohol or that I know your order?" Wells replied with humor.

"Both," Raven admitted sheepishly and took another swig of her drink.

"Oh God, they're here," Clarke said in an antsy voice. She had been looking at the bar's entrance since they arrived, nervously awaiting the moment she would see Lexa again. She knocked back her beer quickly hoping it would act as liquid courage. Timidly, she waved to Lexa, who spotted them and waved back, a smile on her face. Clarke practically had a heart attack at the sight of the brunette smiling at her. Before she second guessed herself, the blonde felt herself asking Wells, "Another beer, please." Wells took her glass and filled it up again.

"The blonde, right?" Anya asked as they headed towards the bar and her best friend nodded her head slightly. She glanced at the blonde, who looked like Lexa's equal in nervousness, and she couldn't help but grin. It was easy to see that Clarke apparently liked Lexa just as much. Perhaps it would end well.

She didn't say anything to her best friend, however. Lexa was a ball of nerves and likely barely listening. Plus, why ruin the mutual awkwardness and nervousness the blonde and her best friend would have? Additionally she wanted a chance to kind of subtly interrogate the blonde, ensure she was full of good intentions.

Lexa's breath was hitched in her throat looking at what Clarke was wearing, trying so hard not to trip on her feet or spontaneously die of anxiousness. When she and Anya approached the bar, the brunette noticed the woman she helped Clarke haul inside, Raven, smiling at her. She assumed the one squashed between Raven and Clarke was Octavia, who was in deep conversation with the bartender, they looked like they were familiar with one another.

"Uhm, hi," Lexa said shyly when they approached the three girls at the bar. Her breath was still caught in her throat, her eyes taking in every inch of Clarke's attire. She forced a smile to her face, which probably looked really lopsided.

"Hey," Clarke said breathlessly, noticing the green eyed brunette eyeing her up and down. A slight blush crept up her neck and she tried to busy herself to get it dissipate. "This is Octavia," she nodded her head to the woman sitting next to her, "and I'm sure you remember Raven," she smirked and Raven shook her head, a playful smile on her own face.

"Good to see you conscious, Raven," Lexa quipped and held out her hand formally. Then, she turned her attention to Octavia, who had halted her conversation with the bartender and was nodding a hello her way and holding out her hand for it to be shaken like with Raven. "Good to meet you, Octavia."

"Likewise," Octavia replied curtly, then heard Wells clear his throat slightly. She knew he was curious because they had never, ever invited anyone to the trio girls night. "This wonderful bartender here is Wells. We went to high school with him. Wells, this is Clarke's friend, Lexa."

The tall man held out his hand to Lexa, a warm and friendly smile on his face, "It's nice to meet you, Lexa."

"Likewise, Wells. And this is my best friend, Anya," she shifted aside so Ayn could inch herself closer and put her arms on her best friend's shoulders as if showing her off for show-and-tell.

Anya greeted each of them individually as Lexa had, but her eyes lingered on Clarke, sizing the woman up and trying to gage a reaction out of her. She could see the blonde was intimidated by being glared at, so she softened her composure and smiled warmly at her. Just because she was protective of her best friend didn't mean she shouldn't be civil towards the woman, especially if she wanted to try and figure out where this woman stood with her best friend and what her intentions were.

"Do you ladies want something to drink? On the house," Wells asked, noticing a tension.

"Sure, I'll take a beer please," Anya replied with a smile.

"Just soda for me, thanks," Lexa responded. As bad as she wanted some liquid courage, she knew she was going to be the designated driver between her and Anya. She would just have to manage the get together sober.

"Jaha, while you're at it, I'll take another beer," Clarke pipped enthusiastically, downing the little bit of beer left in her glass. He rolled his eyes at her hearing his last name, but took her glass and filled it back up.

"So, how often do you three do these girls nights?" Anya asked, trying to get a conversation going. She could sense that Lexa was beginning to fall into a pit of panic again with Clarke's best friends glaring at her as she had with Clarke. It became more apparent that Clarke's companions had intentions of trying the same thing she wanted to do with Clarke, so she devised a plan. Instead of talking to the blonde and probably scaring her or making her squirm, she would just talk to her two best friends, who seemed equally as loyal to Clarke as Anya was to Lexa. Perhaps they could all be on the same page.

"Couple times a month. More or less," Octavia replied, but her attention was mostly still on Lexa.

"Sounds fun," Anya answered respectfully before spotting a dart board on the other side of the bar. A sly grin lit her face before she added, "Octavia, Raven, would you care to join me for darts?" She hoped they would understand that she wanted to give her best friend and Clarke some privacy, but also get themselves all on the same page.

Intuitively, Raven glanced at Anya. When their eyes met, Anya nodded her head slightly towards the dartboard, a pleading look on her normally stoic face. Something about it made her nod and grab ahold of Octavia's arm and drag her away towards the dartboard.

Octavia, unhappy about being taken away from her spot as Clarke's body guard, huffed and balled her fist. "What the fuck, Rae?" She sneered in her best friend's ear, clearly not getting the reason she was being dragged away. The brunette relaxed the tension in her shoulders and unballed her fists, pulling up an impassive mask on her face. She wouldn't crack, not around a complete stranger.

"Let's hear her out, O," Rae suggested, ushering her friend forward. They were far behind Anya, who was nearly at the other side of the bar where the dartboard was.

The moment all three of them reached their destination, Anya whirled around and faced the two women. "Look, let's not beat around the bush here. You two are clearly as protective of Clarke as I am of Lexa." She paused a moment, as she hadn't considered what to say beyond that, but instead just asked the question that loomed in her mind. "Clarke likes Lexa, doesn't she?"

Raven and Octavia glanced at one another, having a short, silent discussion as whether to admit to Anya's question. Octavia looked closer to a no, but in the end sighed and shrugged her shoulders and Raven remained nodded her head. They turned their attention back to Anya.

"She does," Raven said cautiously, wry that Anya would dash back to her best friend with the information. They weren't in grade school anymore, but it didn't stop Rae's skepticism.

Anya couldn't help but find herself smiling, reveling in the fact that Clarke and Lexa both liked one another. When Clarke's friends stared, stupefied and confused, at her random smile, the brunette's smile intensified. The pieces were falling into place. She busied herself by grabbing the darts attached to the dartboard, standing some paces away. They had to at least look like they were trying to play darts.

Before she lined herself up to throw her dart, she turned her attention to the two brunettes, "Lexa likes Clarke, too." Those four words made Anya's smile contagious, as both Raven and Octavia grinned and glanced over at their best friend, before turning their attention fully on the game of darts Anya had ushered them over for.

"How about we make this interesting," Raven suggested, "loser buys the next round of drinks?"

Anya and Octavia glanced at one another and reluctantly nodded. "Deal," they both eventually said in unison. Little did they know, Anya was damn good at throwing darts.

Octavia held her own, going neck-and-neck with Anya. Eventually Ayn inched her out by just a bit, but Raven was bumbling way behind, not hitting the center mark even once. Raven ended up buying the next round of drinks begrudgingly.

* * *

"It appears they're getting along," Lexa observed, her eyes briefly torn away from the beautiful blonde to see her best friend communicating with Clarke's best friends. At first Anya's demeanor appeared hard and inflexible, but after a short exchanged conversation, she seemed to soften. The ghost of a smile lit the corner of her lips seeing her best friend interact with the blonde's friends thereafter, it seemed natural.

"I'm glad. I was a little afraid that they'd eat Anya alive," Clarke replied with slight sarcasm before the wall holding her composure in place faltered and she found herself chuckling a little while she took another swig of her third beer. She was already beginning to feel a bit tipsy. "They're amazing, but they're really protective of me, and they know this is all new for me." The blonde blurted out, not really taking into consideration the ramifications of her words.

"How do you mean?" Lexa asked gently, not wanting to do anything to stop Clarke's moment of openness. The brunette didn't know that Clarke was in on her third beer, not her second, or that she usually stopped after a beer to a beer and a half on girls night.

Clarke's eyes widened as it abruptly hit her, what she said. How she all but openly admitted to liking the brunette in front of her. She choked on the beer she was in the middle of sipping and struggled to think of a way to backpedal from the territory she accidentally launched herself into.

"Uh…" Is all the blonde managed to say, her face crimson red. She internally debated with herself on what to do. Shrug it off as if it didn't happen and vainfully hope she goes along with dropping it? No, not when a bomb that massive was dropped, there's no ignoring that. Feign being drunk? Eh, if anymore beer were consumed she would be on the fast track to making that one come true, and who knows how much she could refrain from admitting then. Fess up, be boldly honest? God, how would she ever get the words out of her mouth?

"I…I meant…That I, ugh…" Clarke struggled and slumped over a bit, putting her head on the bar-table before mustering up the strength. _Now or never, Griffin_ , she thought to herself. "I like…like you," the blonde admitted, feeling childish using such a youthful term to confess her desire for the brunette.

Lexa couldn't believe her ears, she hoped to figure out if the blonde was into women or not by the end of the night, but a full frontal confession of that magnitude? Wow. Ignoring the fact that she stuttered over nearly every word and her cheeks turned a particularly beautiful shade of red, the brunette felt her heart soar to great heights at the uncovered information.

The brunette leaned over, closer to Clarke– whose head was still slouched against the bar-table. She laid her head down just like Clarke's and made sure she could see the blonde's face as she replied softly, "I like-like you, too."

She heard Lexa's confession and her breath hitched in her throat. They were only inches apart, both of their heads awkwardly on the bar-table. She found herself searching the brunette's eyes for any indication that she was lying, but all she seen staring back at her was honesty and desire.

* * *

 **That's all for this chapter, folks. Please let me know what you thought, I live for reviews on the story :)**

 **Also, I've been debating whether or not to go forth with making a couple of short Clexa stories that take place sometime during the TV show. What do you think, would you read something like that?**


	6. Reconstructed Routine

**Apologies for the delayed update, I've been really busy the last several days. I'll be starting a new job within a handful of days, I hope, which will limit my time even further until I get onto a semi-regular routine. Don't worry though, I'll make my best effort to keep writing the stories in my lull times so I can try and keep them updated weekly if possible :)**

 **Please like/fav and comment if you like this story, they're incredibly motivating to keep me writing**

* * *

Clarke found herself replaying her drunken confession and Lexa's reply over and over in her head. Only a day had passed since they admitted to liking one another, but it was one of the happiest moments in Clarke's immediate memory. That enthralled and terrified her all at once.

Unfortunately the weekend was over, which meant Clarke had to adjust her primary focus back to her studies and shifts at work instead of a particular, gorgeous brunette that managed to sneak in and occupy majority of her fleeting thoughts. She had a four hour shift at Nyko's Bookstore today and a boat load of coursework that she desperately needed to focus on thereafter.

That, of course, didn't prevent the blonde from texting Lexa as frequently as she could. The two repeatedly messaged one another back and forth throughout the day, talking about any and everything, with good doses of flirting in between. Neither Lexa nor Clarke broached the topic of their feelings for one another beyond the initial admittance at the bar for different reasons.

Clarke's biggest reason revolved around having mixed emotions about the ordeal. She was mortified that she had gotten tipsy enough to slip up and thereafter brazenly admit her feelings. Yet on the other hand, she was quite thankful that it happened the way it did because she found out that Lexa reciprocated the feelings––and that factoid alone made the blonde over the moon with joy.

On the flip side of the same coin, Lexa held incredible amounts of apprehension and fear because what she felt towards the blonde was so incredibly new and foreign to her that she wasn't entirely sure _where_ to begin or the full scope of said uncharted feelings. The prospect of liking someone beyond a friendship was opening a whole new can of worms for the green-eyed brunette. A part of her, a really large part in fact, really wanted to explore it to its entirety, to damn the terror that so frequently captured her mind and spun her in figurative circles. It was simultaneously exhilarating and frightening.

As soon as she finished her shift at work, the blonde made her way back home, determined to focus on her coursework. Books sprawled out in front of her on the long table in the living room, a long, frustrated sigh escaped her lips. That was the final straw for her to make one final pit-stop before digging in––to grab a cup of java and a small bowl of leftover fruit salad that was in the fridge. Seriously, every single time she opened the fridge she sent a silent thank-you to Octavia for her passion in the cooking department. While waiting for the k-cup of coffee, she withdrew her mobile device and shot a quick text message to Lexa.

 **[4:18pm] Clarke:** Hey Lexa :) You busy?

Within a matter of seconds, the blonde spotted three ellipses, indicating the brunette had not only read the message, but was in the midst of replying. Just the thought of being so important that Lexa stopped what she was doing to respond made Clarke's heart soar and her lips tug upward to form a gentle smile. Yup, she had it bad alright.

 **[4:19pm] Lexa:** Clarke, hey! :) Nope, not too busy to message you. What's up?

 **[4:21pm] Clarke:** About to get started studying, but was wondering if you weren't busy when I'm done, if you'd like to hang out?

By the time Clarke finished sending her text out, the k-cup machine had finished brewing the cup of coffee, which smelled heavenly. Per usual, she added cream and sugar, which diluted the dark colored coffee to a pretty, creamy color. It took her a couple of test sips and adding a little more sugar until she finally had it the way she loved it––so sweet it almost threatened to give cavities with every sip.

 **[4:25pm] Lexa:** I'd love to. How about you come over when you're done and we can watch a movie and eat dinner?

The blonde found herself smiling slyly as she nursed her sweet coffee in one hand, her fingers rapidly typing over her iPhone with the other.

 **[4:26pm] Clarke:** That sounds perfect, you've motivated me to get started on this mountain of work! I'll text you before I leave

Lexa sat nervously at the café that she and Clarke were at the day before. She nervously bit her lower lip while she stared at her phone, her coffee in hand and a small club sandwich in front of her. Grounders Café was a lot like Starbucks, minus the fact that it wasn't heavily corporate upon walking in the door. It had a homey feel to it, like a mom-and-pop shop.

The green-eyed brunette was anxious about the last message she sent to Clarke because neither of them had attempted to make plans after the 'girls night' at the bar. Granted, it had went well––really well, in fact––but since the mutual acknowledgement of liking one another, it seemed both of the women were almost jittery about what should happen next. Lexa knew she had no freaking clue, as she was inexperienced in the area, so she was mostly winging it.

Upon seeing Clarke's response, Lexa let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She felt butterflies skitter in her stomach as a wide smile splayed itself on her face. Containing her excitement, the brunette cleared her throat and quickly sent a message back to Clarke before letting her get to her studies.

 **[4:26pm] Lexa:** Awesome, I'll talk to you then

* * *

About two hours and some change later, Clarke put her pen down and rubbed her bleary eyes. She stole a glance at the clock on the wall in the living room, having to do a double take because her eyes were still adjusting and because she couldn't believe how time flew. Deciding she was satisfied with the amount of work she managed to get done, despite having difficulty being genuinely interested in it today, she marked where she was with a sticky note. She knew she would have to resume from where she left off tomorrow, but also didn't want to be a lousy roommate and leave the dining room table a mess, so she began closing each one of the open textbooks and notebooks in front of her with diligence and piled them neatly on the end of the table.

From there she put her coffee mug and empty bowl that once held her fruit salad in the sink, rinsing both out. The three women, when they first got their apartment together, created common courtesy and ground rules to keep themselves from going barbaric over petty things. As such, it alternated daily who was to do the dishes.

Actually, with the frequency in which Octavia cooked the meals––and really neither Clarke or Raven cooked meals, not after the toaster incident––the three agreed that Clarke and Raven would flip a coin on Octavia's dish-washing days. It avoided a lot of fights, plus Rae and Clarke knew they got a sweet deal, what with having a guaranteed good meal nearly everyday of the week and only a fifty-fifty chance of being lumped with the dishes.

Neither of her best friends had returned home while Clarke was studying, but that was because the blonde purposefully planned her day around their busy schedules. Octavia, Raven, and Bellamy co-owned the auto repair shop, Arkadia. Seeing as her two best friends were often incredibly distracting and occasionally bad influences to her study habits, Clarke carefully planned her study times around the days that said two best friends were busy.

It was necessary since every time she _did_ attempt to study with one or both of them, she'd always end up getting dragged out to go clubbing or shopping or anything else besides what she really needed to do––study––instead. Not that she truly minded, really, since she loved both of them to the moon and back, but she also had to be serious and focus on her schoolwork. That would just never happen with Raven and Octavia around and Clarke came to terms with that and, thus, devised a way around it months ago.

After rinsing the dish, Clarke beelined back into her room and got changed into something far less comfortable than her sweats and tee shirt, but also much sexier. She was going to see Lexa, so of course she wanted to look as stunning as she could for the green-eyed beauty.

Before vacating the shared apartment, the blonde grabbed a sheet of paper from her notebook and a nearby pen to scrawl a quick note for her two best friends. She explained that she was going to hang out with Lexa. She could have simply shot one or both of them a quick text message, but she knew they were working and Bellamy got all grumpy when either of them stopped to text or take calls, which had led to more than a few intense arguments in the past.

Clarke pinned the written note to the fridge where she knew the women would venture to first. Well, Octavia would at least, who knew about Raven. Then she shot a quick text letting Lexa know she was leaving and needed her address.

* * *

Less than forty-five minutes later, the blonde found herself nervously standing outside Lexa's door. She fidgeted like a boy who was picking up his prom date and had to deal with the family's Spanish Inquisition-like amount of questions. She liked Lexa, and Lexa liked her. So why was she so damn nervous?  
Taking in a heaping gulp of air, the blonde knocked gently on the hard oak door, her free hand playing with the hem of her blouse. Within a minute the door was opened, green eyes staring at blue. As it had several times before, Clarke's breath hitched in her throat upon the sight of those gorgeous forest green eyes. Eyes she could easily lose herself in staring at.

Unintentionally her own eyes betrayed her by raking over every bit of Lexa's body, taking in the alluring view of Lexa's slender body wearing a stylish pair of black skinny jeans that had a faded patch over the knee cap and a form-fitting band tee shirt. Per usual, the brunette managed to pull off looking absolutely stunning, yet simultaneously comfortable.

When her blue eyes did eventually make their way back up to meet Lexa's, Clarke could see the smug smirk on the brunette's face. She couldn't quite tell, but her eyes almost looked a shade or two darker than they had a few moments prior, but she assumed it was her imagination.

"Like what you see, Princess?" Lexa asked smugly, tenaciously using the nickname she heard her best friends call her at the bar. As she suspected would happen, the blonde merely rolled her eyes and shoved her arm into Lexa's shoulder playfully, but the ghost of a smile lingered on her face despite her actions.

"I was promised dinner and a movie," the blonde replied sarcastically, said lingering smile blossoming into a full blown one.

"Right this way, m'lday," the green-eyed brunette replied with faux chivalry, turning her body to let Clarke in and bowing herself a little as she pointed towards the open expanse of her house. 


End file.
